President of Chamber of Commerce forced to sell

Sep 5 2008 By Jack Abell

The president of Chalfont St Peter Chamber of Commerce has been forced to sell his estate agent business due to the economic problems which are facing the industry.

Integra Property Services in Market Place has been bought by Gerrards Cross based agents Roberts Newby because of the serious downturn in the market which has occurred in the housing market this year. The business closed on Monday and Integra's offices have been made available for rent.

It will no longer operate as an estate agents and will instead concentrate on consultancy work and land assessment.

Michael Day, who has been managing director of the business for the four years that it has been in the village, said: "You've only got to turn on your television or read your newspapers to realise how bad the housing market is at the moment. Across the country, people are choosing not to move house, and when you are relatively new company like us, it is very, very difficult to continue because we simply don't have deep enough pockets.

"At the moment, there are about 200 estate agents closing down across the country every week, and if the market carries on as it is, I would not be surprised to see half the agents in the UK closing down in the next 12 months."

Mr Day added: "I know that there are a lot of other estate agents in this area that are really feeling the pinch. The sad fact is that unless you are an old, well established business with very deep pockets, it is hugely difficult to survive at the moment.

"A succession of appalling government policies have caused the industry serious problems and I felt that now was the right time to close.
"The business did not go bust, but it was too difficult to continue as it was, so I thought that the best thing for it would be to sell it to Roberts Newby as they are very well established in this area."